Is there a future for OQL?

20
Due to performance issues especially when generating reports (report templates - pdf) we frequently use OQL. For this we use a custom-made java action which maps the result of a OQL query to a non-persistent object. Performance improvements of a factor of 10 to 100 are no exception. This shows how powerful the use of OQL within Mendix. I have developed with Mendix since version 2.1 and noticed that since then no progress has been made regarding the use of OQL within Mendix. I can now (version 5.21) still define data sets and use them in Report panes. This is the only native use of OQL and has not changed at all since version 2.1. My question is; What is the future of OQL within the Mendix platform. Are datasets in the future be used more extensively, can OQL in addition to data retrieval also do data processing (like bulk iserts/updates). Or will OQL be deprecated in future releases? And if so, what will be the alternative? Mendix please enlighten me/us on this subject.
asked
8 answers
3

These are a number of good suggestions that might make a good start for the Q1 Ideas Forum!

answered
3

Note: This external post illustrates the same frustration of OQL being to unknown in the Mendix community, the power of it, and its need of some additional features.

  • http://www.nolanramsey.com/blog/2015/9/11/mendix-oql-help
answered
2

I thought I'd chime in with an answer to the question that isn't an answer to the question, like the answers above this one. :-)

I think René asked a very interesting question here and I would love to hear an official answer from Mendix. I share René's opinion that the power of OQL is greatly overlooked. It should play a much more important role in the development of the toolset, as far as I'm concerned.

answered
0

IMHO OQL can be expanded with some neat features to give Mendix more business reporting power.

  • Combining 'Constraint by' from forms to make the use of associations easier
  • Determine from the domain model to choose for subselects or associations
  • Add the grouping columns automatically
  • Visual editor for case-when
answered
0

On my wish list are string functions as basic as concatenate and substring

answered
0

There are no plans to deprecate OQL, very interested to hear your needs around OQL. What improvements do you need, when you prefer OQL over XPATH or XPATH over OQL?

Our first focus is to improve Xpath retrieve performance, which would reduce the need for OQL for this purpose. What changes did you make in the OQL compared to your Xpath to achieve your performance improvements. Would be interested to know if this is a generic improvement we can make for Xpaths.

answered
0

It looks like the new databaseconnector Mx 6.7 might make OQL redundant. We tested it in a POC on the application database itself and it works fine (great performance). Use of db functions in selections is also possible, from performance perspective this is a must. Even DML and DDL is possible (not advisable).

answered
0

I think Mendix is lacking some serious Graph tools.

OQL can be very helpful to fill data sets, but only if they are context-sensitive for the Page they or on.

Flash is a thing from the past though....

With our IoT application we ofter want to shown 50.000 samples quickly. Does not work in Google, does not work in JSCharts.

Octave can do it, but has no Mendix integration.

answered